Monday, July 8, 2013

Mission Beach: Don’t Wait To Be Cute #MSFiles

All four of my babies have been spring(ish) babies. Great for them - they can go out right away without being bundled! Not so great for mom. Spring and Summer clothes don’t leave a lot of room for covering a post baby body. Learning to juggle four and fit in time for myself has been even harder so I feel even larger and farther behind than with any of my other children.

With four children home for summer though staying inside is not an option. So this past week I pulled out my old post baby swimsuit and skirt cover up and said we’re going to the pool. I tried to not think about what I looked like and just enjoy watching all the kids in the pool. They of course had a great time, but as I sat in the shallow water floating the babies I looked around and had an epiphany.

Moms come in all shapes and sizes.

Okay not really an epiphany as much as a reminder. Sure there were a few swimming that day that in my head I convinced myself they were the babysitter. But overall everyone was embracing and accepting their mom body, not hiding on the sidelines covered up.

As we were packing up and I wrapped my daughters in there cute matching cover ups I decided that I had to stop waiting to feel like I could do cute beach/pool wear. I needed to embrace the now like all the moms at the pool were, because honestly why should I waste now in frumpy worn out stuff?

Thankfully Vera Bradley knows all about making things cute and colorful and as I was having this series of epiphanies they asked if I wanted to try out their beach stuff and I said yes!

I have never had Vera Bradley, I assumed all they made were those quilted bags that the older ladies at church and southern belles carried. I had no idea they had such cute modern prints! They sent me a sarong, beach tote and towel in plum crazy:

You know what? A bright and pretty sarong is a great way to cover up a less then flattering swimsuit! It even came with a card showing me all the ways you could wear it. I’m going to be trying out all the different ways because wearing it made me feel instantly more put together and fabulous looking (sorry no pic, four kids at the pool yo!)

Besides having a pretty, and cuddly, beach towel made our chair easy to spot!

To help you rock your beach/pool look with the confidence of a goddess I have a Vera Bradley Beach pack to giveaway to one on you! It’s the same as I received, a sarong, tote and towel in the go wild pattern.

I have a great swimsuit, but it's a little busty--but what can I say, I'm "well-endowed" as my the woman who sold me my bridal gown said LOL. Anyway, it works great when I'm with women (and of course Ben loves it) but when we're co-ed swimming I feel a little more self-conscious.

Boring white zipper cover up from Target clearance rack two years ago on the way into the pool. On the way home, usually just a towel wrapped around the waist that keeps falling off as I shuffle the kids out of the pool. When you have multiple kids, you forget what you look like (many times) because you are too focused on what they are wearing, if you have the snacks, sunscreen, towels, etc.